The Rise (The Kings and Gods #3)

Chapter 12

Lana

I’m not entirely sure how many times Hunter fucked me the other night. I remember blacking out a few times. My body has never been so used in my life, and I say that in a good way.

Hunter walks into the room with a needle in his hand, and I narrow my eyes, wondering what he’s doing with it.

“Turn over,” he says, nodding at where I’m laying on the bed.

“I don’t think so.”

“Turn over, Lana.”

“What is that?” I ask, nodding toward the needle.

“Birth control,” he replies casually. I’m not sure what to say here, so I just stare at him. He sighs and sits on the edge of the bed. “We can do this the easy way, or I can chain your ass up and do it. Either way, you’re taking it.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You want a kid?” he asks, but I don’t answer. “I don’t. Now turn the fuck over.” I don’t want a kid either, at least not right now, so I roll onto my stomach as he pinches my skin. I feel the needle go in and then the medicine. When he pulls the needle out, he leans down and presses a kiss on my ass, causing me to squirm. Hunter stands and heads for the door as I watch him.

“You getting up soon?” he asks over his shoulder.

“Maybe. I’m comfortable,” I tell him. He laughs and nods his head.

“Stay in bed then.” He walks out of the room, the door closing behind him. I roll up in the blanket and sigh. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t know what I should be doing here. Everything has happened so quickly, and I’m not sure how to handle it all. I was sent here to do a job, and now that’s over, but will they look for me? I’m almost positive they will.

I groan as I roll over and climb out of the bed, grabbing some clothes to put on. Then I head out into the hallway. I haven’t looked around Chaos much so I take the time to do that.

I walk down the hall to find most of the doors locked which makes sense. They like to keep their privacy. The next door I try is unlocked so I walk inside. There’s a huge set up of computers and screens. Some of the buildings and others of places I’ve never seen before.

“What do you think?” I jolt when I hear Hoax behind me. I turn to see him sitting in the back of the room. I didn’t see him when I came in.

“It’s a lot.”

“We monitor a lot of things. Chaos isn’t our only interest,” he explains.

“What other interests do you have?”

“Security mainly. Hunter’s smart. He knows his way around security,” he tells me.

“That’s what all this does?” I ask, waving my hand through the air. Hoax nods before he stands and comes around to stand next to me.

“We’re not the only ones out there, you know? There are others just like us who want to save kids.”

“But there’s more of them,” I say softly.

“Exactly. But we’re never going to stop what we do. It takes time and patience, and that’s not something we have all the time. We lose it, we get lost, and it’s fucking hard as hell for us to come back from it.”

“Hunter, too?” Hoax nods his head.

“Yeah, him too. It’s been awhile since he’s spiraled, so I figure it will be coming sooner rather than later.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I lose control, and there is no stopping me.” I turn to see Hunter standing in the doorway, looking at the screens just past me. He doesn’t look at me right away, just at the screens. Then he slowly pulls his eyes to meet mine, and I’m lost there.

“What happens when you lose control?” I risk asking.

“Men like us can only be pushed so far before we snap. It’s not just this line of work; it’s us. It’s who we are and it’s how we were raised to be. Typically, when I lose it, I need to be taken down.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning, we knock his ass out,” Hoax chuckles as I look over at him and then back to Hunter.

“It’s not good for anyone, little rebel. And I pray that you stay out of my way when it happens.”

“Why? Will you hurt me?” He stalks toward me, raising his hand to my cheek in such a gentle way, but I know he’s anything but.

“I’ll hurt you badly. And I won’t feel bad about it.” I nod my head, understanding, but at the same time, I want to see it first hand. I want to see Hunter come undone so I know what the hell I’m getting into with him. His hand tightens on my cheek as he looks into my eyes and shakes his head as if he knows what I’m thinking.

“You don’t want to see, Lana.” He isn’t scaring me if that’s what he thinks. He lowers his head and presses his lips to mine, kissing me so easily. This man is a contradiction. He’s hard, soft, and everything in between, and it confuses the hell out of me.

“You hungry?” I nod my head before he drops one last kiss on my lips and grabs my hand, dragging me out of the room and down the hall. When we step into the main room, I see a ton of people milling around. Hunter doesn’t say anything; he just leads me through the room and over to the table where he has food set out. He nods for the chair and I sit as I glance around at everyone.

“What’s happening?”

“There was a small group some of our guys caught up with. The kids will be coming in soon,” he tells me.

“And you need all this?” I ask, nodding toward the people.

“It’s better to be prepared for anything.”

“How does it all work here?” I ask, looking back at Hunter as he takes a bite of his food.

“We get them in here. We give them a basic check up, as you saw before. We get them bathed and changed, feed them, and then when the others are ready, we move them to a new location where a doctor will check them over again more thoroughly, and the other guys get in touch with their families.”

“I had no idea you did all that.”

“It’s what we do.”

“And the men?” I ask as I take a bite of my food.

“They’re held in one of the three rooms with cages. We get what we can out of them, and then we handle them whatever way we want.”

“Torture and kill?”

“Mostly, but sometimes we give them options. They can try to fight their way out,” he tells me, but I don’t understand.

“What do you mean?”

“They have the option of fighting one of us to be free. If they kill us, they walk,” he explains with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Has anyone actually killed one of you before?”

“Once.”

“And you let him go?” I ask, shocked by that. I don’t see Hunter letting anyone go.

“I wasn’t around back then when that happened, but no, they didn’t. He thought he was getting out and made it a point to tell them how many more kids he could grab before they shot his ass. I’ve only heard the stories.”

“So, since you’ve been here, no one has beat you guys?”

“Nope. You have to understand our mindsets when we ask for a fight. We’re usually fucked in the head over something else, and this is our way of taking it on someone who deserves it,” he says, taking another bite. I nod my head and sit quietly, eating my food as I watch the people wander around and get things ready and set up. I didn’t realize they did all this. I know what I saw when I came in, but when they took that little girl from me, I lost it. They threw me in a cage in a different room.

“The little girl I came in with? Is she … was she okay?” Hunter sets his food down and looks at me.

“What made her special?”

“I don’t know. I just felt something when I saw her.”

“She’s okay. She’s back with her mom and dad. She was taken from her bed right out of her own fucking house. They came in her window and just took her. The family has moved someplace else now.”

“How do you know all that?”

“We look into everything. We don’t just say hey, here’s your kid back. We don’t know if the parents willingly gave that kid up, you know?”

“People do that,” I say sadly, knowing that all too well.

“Yeah, they do, and before I let a kid go back to that I make sure that’s not what happened. Your little girl's name was Celia. She was five.” A tear runs down my cheek knowing her name now.

Hunter moves, reaching over the table to wipe my cheek for me.

“It hurts, I know, but they’re home now.” I nod my head as he sits back down and gets back to his food. We don’t talk a whole lot after that as we eat, and I take it all in.

Tables are set up on one side, while chairs are set on the other. I watch the guys work getting ready, and it amazes me just how much time and effort they put into it.

When we finish eating, Hunter goes to help as I sit back and watch him. There’s something about him I just can’t get past. Something deeper to him I want to know.

He must feel me staring at him because he turns to look at me and smiles. My heart leaps in my chest, but at the same time, I don’t smile back because what if they show up? What if they find me and hurt Hunter?

He sees it, the look on my face. He walks over and squats in front of me, looking me in the eye.

“What is it?”

“What if they find me, Hunter? They’ll kill me.”

“I’m not going to let that happen.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know enough to know I’m keeping you, Lana. I know enough to tell you you’re mine now.” I shake my head. How can he say that? He knows nothing about me.

“You can’t make that decision already, Hunter.”

“I can, and I will.” Now he stands, and I see the anger in his eyes.

“No, you can’t.” Now I’m on my feet in front of him, my arms crossed over my chest.

“You seem to need a reminder, little rebel.”

“What?”

“Get on your knees.” It’s a demand, and I know it is, but I want to challenge him right now.

“No.”

“Get on your knees,” he growls this time. I stand my ground, not moving. Hunter moves closer to me, his warm breath dancing over my flesh.

“I won’t say it again. I will pull your pants down and let everyone watch as I spank your ass and withhold every fucking orgasm for the next week. Now get on your fucking knees.” Just his threat has my knees going weak. And just to hear him praise me, I drop to my knees. He doesn’t smile at me this time; he just stares at me.

Then he reaches out, running his calloused fingers along my cheek as he says, “Such a good girl for me, aren’t you, little rebel? Is it only for me? Are you only a good girl for me?” he asks. I nod my head because no one has ever made me do the things he does. No one has ever told me that, either. “Say it, little rebel. Tell me you’re my good girl.” I debate opening my mouth to answer him, but then I see the serious look in his eyes, and I do it.

“I’m your good girl.”